


Goldfish, Cats and a Detective Inspector

by Jack_writes_Fics



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Animals, Cats, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Mycroft Has a Goldfish, Mycroft Holmes Needs a Hug, Pets, Pining, Shy Mycroft, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:08:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29327550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jack_writes_Fics/pseuds/Jack_writes_Fics
Summary: Mycroft didn't want to admit it, but maybe his little brother was right. Maybe he really was lonely. This is why now Mycroft stood in front of a big aquarium in a pet shop, trying to choose a goldfish. Not a human friendship, but, well, it was a start.Tags and rating will be edited as story continues, as it is still being written. I don't have an update schedule and probably will never have one.
Relationships: Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade
Comments: 23
Kudos: 65





	1. The Goldfish

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not dead and I'm still writing! This has been sitting in my wips for a while since I had no idea how continue. Now I got an idea. Enjoy.

Mycroft didn't want to admit it, but maybe his little brother was right. Maybe he really was lonely. This is why now Mycroft stood in front of a big aquarium in a pet shop, trying to choose a goldfish. Not a human friendship, but, well, it was a start.

He knows Sherlock meant something else by a 'goldfish', but the 'goldfish' Sherlock meant were complicated and he surely wasn't ready for this type of 'goldfish'. So he decided to take him literally and get a goldfish to learn some sort of 'social contact' with and stop being so lonely before he gets a 'goldfish'. 

Today a little fish, in a few months maybe a cat, and in a year or two he might ask the gorgeous Detective Inspector out for dinner. Well, as if that's ever gonna happen. 

He looked at all the pretty fish, trying to decide which one to get. 

"Mycroft, I don't think it's so hard to choose a goldfish. Just do it." He heard Anthea behind him say.

Well, maybe he could count her as sort of a friend. After all, she was nice enough to help him buy a goldfish and everything a goldfish needs.

"It needs to be the perfect goldfish." He replied, knowing that his argument was invalid, since personality wise goldfish weren't really that diverse. 

He looked at all the goldfish, but all seemed very… ordinary. But then he spotted a particularly pretty one. It was more silver than all the others and had a beautiful purely silver tail. 

He was going to tell Anthea that he found the perfect one, when another goldfish caught his eye. It was hiding in a corner and at first glance looked pretty much the same as the other goldfish, only that it was a bit bigger and at second glance a bit darker in shade than the other ones. 

Mycroft didn't know if he was only imagining it, but it seemed like the goldfish kept looking in the silver goldfish's direction. He immediately felt a dash of sympathy for it, he knows what it feels like to never be truly seen by the person you fancy.

He quickly decided that these two were meant together and bought them.

* * *

Now he and Anthea were out of the pet shop and in his home office setting up the tank. They were pretty much done now, and put the bag with the two fish into the tank.

"So, what are you going to name them Mycroft?" Anthea asked him while watching the goldfish slowly come out of the clear plastic bag.

"Wh- What?" He asked, taken aback by the sudden question.

"You have to give them a name."

"Names… I didn't really think that far..."

He walked up to the tank and carefully looked at the two fish, they seemed to warm up to one another. He looked at the silver one and suddenly thought of a certain quite handsome Detective Inspector. And since he was sure that the red one fancied the silver one that must be…

"Mycroft and Gregory. If they end up together, then there still might be hope for me." He said and looked at Anthea with big sad eyes.

Her boss can be quite a handful, is very socially awkward and often, well, acts like an ass, but she still felt very sorry for him. The poor man was so lonely and deeply in love that he portrayed his dream of the perfect relationship onto two goldfish. That really made her want to hug him.

"Hm, okay. Those are good names I guess. Soo… Well, I hate to say this, but i actually have a date this evening and still have to get ready and don't want to be late..." She said and immediately regretted mentioning the date when she saw the look of hurt and a glimmer of envy in his eyes. 

"Oh… yeah, you can go. After all you didn't even have to help me in the first place so… thank you" he said awkwardly.

"Im sorry Mycroft." She said and suddenly hugged him. The hug was surprising, but not unappreciated and he carefully and quite awkwardly hugged her back.

"Stay strong." She said and then the hug was over and she was gone again.

He stood there unmoving for a while, then walked to the fish tank and stared back at his reflection.

He was fat, arrogant and selfish and nobody did anything so terrible to deserve to have to be in his presence. 

Gregory would never love him back, would never hold him like he always dreamed. Hell, he wouldn't even look at him. They never even had a real conversation that wasn't mainly about Sherlock, but still he wanted to have him so bad it hurt. The man was so kindhearted and sweet and Mycroft felt unworthy.

He looked inside the fish tank, where goldfish Mycroft and goldfish Gregory happily swam. At least they get to be together. 

He sighed heavily and cracked his back. He decided that he should sleep early tonight. 

Mycroft quickly walked through the hallway, hearing his loud footsteps echoing in the halls. He went into the master bedroom, where he quickly undressed and tried to avoid looking into the mirror, no need to see how fat he got again, and put on his pajamas.

He looked at the clock, which read 20:17. That was far too early to sleep! He could get so much work done, could correct and spell check so many files, but the thought of having to go through so many files without actually doing real work made him sick.

He decided to stick to his original plan and get in bed. 

Mycroft crawled under the covers, and hugged a pillow close to his chest. He laid there for a few moments till he suddenly and violently started sobbing. The Politician rarely ever allowed himself to cry, but in this night with the overwhelming loneliness burning in his chest he decided to finally let go again.

Mycroft cried till his eyes hurt and the tears fully stopped. He fell asleep about half an hour later.


	2. Meeting Scout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg decides to adopt an older ginger tabby named Scout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so y'all know, I'm very allergic to upload schedules and probably would end up not writing at all if I tried using one. Hope you like this chapter!

Greg walked through the Shelter, looking at all the different cages. Sally agreed to come with him, helping him choose a companion while also looking for one herself.

They were currently walking through the dog section. There were big dogs, loud dogs, quiet dogs, old dogs, small dogs, and a few puppies, but none have sparked particular interest in Greg.

"Hey, why don't we go to the cats section?" Greg asked and turned around to Sally, who's looking at a small mutt. 

"Yeah, in a minute. I think I like this little guy." She said, and smiled at the small dog. 

"Well, how about we meet up at the front later when we're both done?" He proposed and she answered with a small smile and nod.

So he headed over to the cats section of the shelter, and began looking around. In one cage there were 3 young cats inside. They weren't exactly kittens anymore, yet still not fully grown.

Greg decided to look further for the time being, and stopped here and there. He was just about to turn and look at the almost-adult kittens again, when he heard a low meow. 

He bent over to look at the cage, and was greeted by the sight of an older ginger tabby cat, missing an eye. He was lying on his side and gently meowed as Greg approached him. 

When Greg looked closer he saw that the poor thing missed half his tail in addition to the missing eye. The Cat stood up and slowly approached Greg, who willingly held his hand to the cage, offering him to smell it. The ginger sniffed his hand and immediately rubbed himself at his hand through the cage. Greg gently pet him through the grid.

Greg pet him for a few minutes and then the cat yawned and seemed to have forgotten to pull his tongue back in, which is apparently known as a 'blep' on the Internet. Greg knew he had to get this kitty.

Half an hour later he sat in his car with the cat, who's named Scout, on the passenger seat. Donovan sat on the back seat with her new dog, Julius.

* * *

They drove to the local pet shop to buy everything their new friends needed, and Greg could have sworn he saw a super posh black car in the corner of his eye driving out of the parking lot. But it probably was just his imagination as usual, he thinks he sees posh black cars quite often.

They quickly got everything they needed, food and collars and a cat tree and stuff like that. After they were done Greg drove Donovan back to her home. 

"Have fun with your little guy, boss! See you on Monday!" She yelled and disappeared inside the house.

* * *

"Time to get us home, Scout." He said softly and opened the cage real quick to pat his head. They drove home quickly and Greg grabbed the cage and got out of the car with Scout gently meowing.

"I'll get you upstairs and then go grab your stuff, little one." And that's exactly what he did, he jogged upstairs with the cat transporter under his arm, set him on the kitchen table and quickly ran down to his car to fetch the rest of the cat stuff.

An hour and a half later after assembling the cat tree, setting up the litter box, putting food and water into Scouts bowls and showing little Scout around the flat he sat on the couch with his new companion in his lap and gently stroking through his fur

"You're such a good fluffy boy." Greg grinned at the purring kitty. Then suddenly Scout got up, walked closer to Greg, and jumped on his shoulder, sitting down comfortably up there. Greg laughed and reached up and pet him.

Greg slowly stood up and slowly walked to the kitchen, wanting to know if Scout would just continue to sit there. Scout didn't seem to mind, he actually seemed to be pretty comfortable up there. Greg grabbed a kitchen chair and sat down, Scout still gently purring. "You like to be able to oversee everything, don't you? That actually reminds me of another adorable ginger."

Greg smiled at the thought of Mycroft and all the pleasant chats they had. God, the man was absolutely gorgeous. His beautifully long legs and curvy body and the teeny tiny little freckles on his nose made Greg blush. The freckles were everywhere on Mycroft's face, but the ones on his nose were extra adorable.

Greg loved Mycroft's freckles. He hadn't even realised they were there for a long time. On a sunny afternoon after walking through a park for about 2 hours Greg had finally seen them for the first time. Turns out Mycroft is usually avoiding the sun like the plague to stop them from being as prominent. It made Greg sad to know how self conscious Mycroft was about such a beautiful feature. 

Greg wondered what Mycroft would think about Scout. He definitely seemed like a cat person, but Mycroft has been surprising before. He hoped he would like Scout. He definitely needed to invite him to dinner soon.

Greg sighed, he wished he had the balls to ask him out on an official date. But Mycroft is intimidating. He definitely was way out of Greg's league, with his long legs and handsome face and soft voice and beautiful, complex mind. 

Greg sighed, and reached up and pet Scout, who's still sitting on his shoulder purring. "It must be so easy for you, little one. You don't have to worry about impressing the guy you fancy."

Scout meowed in response and gently licked his cheek, making Greg laugh. "I'd love to kiss him, you know? I wonder what his lips would taste like. They surely must taste perfect, since everything about him is perfect."

They sat in the kitchen for awhile, Greg talking about Mycroft to Scout. Greg felt kind of… understood. It was good to have someone that listens, even if that someone is an elderly cat. Scout moved from Gregs shoulder to the kitchen table after a while, and looked at Greg with interested eyes. He seemed to like hearing Greg talk, he even sometimes answered with some approving meows. 

When Scout yawned Greg finally looked at his watch, seeing that it was very late already. "Time to go to bed buddy, its late." He said and pet Scouts head.

Greg gently picked him up and slowly made his way through the flat, setting Scout down on his bed. Greg lifted the duvet and crawled under it and immediately felt Scout curl up next to him.

Scout immediately fell asleep while Greg was still laying awake fantasising about what kissing Mycroft would be like. He couldn't help but ask himself;

"Is he thinking about what it would be like kissing me?"

**Author's Note:**

> Hope ya liked It. I'm gonna go sleep now since its 7 am here in germany and this probably isn't too healthy.


End file.
